A blog from an Australian passionate about spending money on beauty products, and then talking about them.

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Hello to you all on the interweb! Hoping you had a wonderful Easter long weekend – did your weekend feel like it was only 2 days, like mine? I hope you had plenty of chocolate and enjoyed some makeup adventures like I did!

So, the wedding season is fast approaching for me, which means long days and blending until my arms are numb. This also means I need to seriously consider all my options to really set my makeup and lock it in. Just a heads up that this will be part of a series of blog posts (primers, powders and sprays) – get excited!

STAGE 1: PRIMER

Take this advice seriously – if you want a polished finish, and want your makeup to have maximum staying power – use a good primer. There are a lot on the market that target specific skin concerns, so choose wisely.

Smashbox

My go-to primer for regular use – Smashbox Photo Finish (RRP $58/Mecca Maxima). They have a great range – hydrating, pore minimising, blemish control, colour correcting and SPF. Get a sample and see which, if any, suits you. If it doesn’t work for you, fear not – there are plenty of other brands.

Hourglass

This is a much raved-about primer, and is a much simpler choice than the Smashbox range. Hourglass have two primers – oil-free ($83/$115) and an oil-filled serum ($104) – it’s not actually called oil-filled, obviously! They both come in a travel size ($29/$35). I have a little sample bottle that has been useful on many occasions – it is my go-to primer when I have a serious party/event.

Urban Decay

I’m not a regular use of this primer, but that is related to allergies rather than the actual design of the product. This is an eyeshadow specific one – for a serious event, I will prime my face and then prime my eyes separately. I do think this is a really decent primer and for a while, I didn’t react to it, but sadly, now it’s out of my rotation. Easily sourced in Australia, available at Mecca ($33).

Soap & Glory

I know it’s highly irritating to read about products that aren’t available in Aus – but for those curious as to what I’m using regularly on my eyes, this is the one. I love most things Soap & Glory, and this primer makes me happy. Being the hoarder I am, I buy this in bulk when in the UK (£8/Boots UK).

Face of Australia

Although I don’t recommend this for party makeup, if you are new to the primer market and want to try something that isn’t going to cost you a lot, I think this stuff fits the bill. I recommend trying it out on a workday to just get a feel for it ($12.95/Priceline).

Laura Mercier

I have to finish with my favourite. This stuff is THE SHIZ. The staff at the DJ’s Laura Mercier counter will ignore you and act all bothered that you wanted help – so just go it alone. Try all the different types – trust in me and all the YouTube bloggers that bang on about this stuff. There are a wide variety of formulas – radiance, oil-free, hydrating, bronzer, SPF and mineral. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between say, the hydrating and mineral – let me know if you have the answer. My choice in this range is the Radiance – I bloody love to glow ($50/David Jones).

Make Up For Ever released a range of primers for different skin concerns about 12 months ago and obviously I rushed out and bought it immediately. I had huge hopes but I didn’t feel they lived up to the hype. They don’t make my list of recommended products, but check them out if you are in Sephora sometime.

My final comment on the use of primers is that I don’t think it can truly replace a good moisturiser – so moisturise first, let that set and then slap on your primer. They claim to be a moisturiser replacement but that’s a no from me.

You must be living under a social media-free rock if you haven’t heard about the Priceline cosmetics sale this week. Check out #pricelinehaul, #priceline #bbloggersau and you will see lots of Priceline love! I’ve become a big fan of the 40% off cosmetics sales, and since the RRP is pretty controlled for cosmetics, I think you generally do get a good deal (unlike their perfume sales). They always market it as a 2-day sale, and it is usually on Tuesday/Wednesday, so requires some careful planning for those that work Mon-Fri, 9-5. Luckily, Priceline is incredibly accessible and can quite often be visited during a lunch break.

So, we’ve got one more day of the sale, and here are my little raves and rants about what I think you should check out (sale goes until 11.59pm online, and until COB in store).

Bourjois – I am a huge fan of this entire brand, and it hardly goes on sale compared with the other Priceline brands. The 40% off sale is the best time to check out this stand – this sale is about stocking up as well as trying something new! I recommend trying a foundation or a blush from this brand (foundations come down to around the $20 mark, and blush is $12.00 on sale). Plus, this stand seems to get very little love at this huge sale, so you’ll get some peace and quiet here. I picked up the Felt Tip Liner for $14 yesterday, but haven’t tried it yet, so can’t recommend it.

L’Oreal – I’m not a huge L’Oreal user, but again, this is the time to try something new. I really rate the False Lash Telescopic mascara which comes down to $16.17 on sale. They had some other gorgeous stuff that I was interested in yesterday, but their stock levels were really low. If anyone is after a nude lipstick and has an olive skin tone, check out the Colour Riche Lipstick by Freida Pinto. I found the tester and fell in love, but no unopened stock unfortunately.

Revlon – Do not be tricked into the Lip Butter at this sale! It is really easy to pick up a Butter for $10, so 40% off at $13 is not a steal. Everyone is loving the Gel Envy range, but I found it chipped really quickly – this may be the fault of my application technique, so I’m just leaving this at the moment. It can also be picked up for some good deals lately, so not a major temptation for me. I really like the Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfecter ($14.97 on sale), but only recommended for those who want light coverage and a dewy finish!

Rimmel – I’m a massive Rimmel lover, but this brand goes on sale a lot, so I always found the attention it gets at these sales very surprising. You can pick up Rimmel at 40% off so often, so don’t waste your time here unless you are restocking! But if you insist on buying something this week, the Salon Pro nail polishes are great, and the Apocolips range has expanded to some matte finish products, so these may be worth checking out (all testers gone at my local Pricey!).

Essie – This is where you should make some serious savings! These don’t go on sale at a 40% drop very often, they are almost always neglected at these sales (as a lot of people don’t realise nail polish is included in cosmetics), and they are well worth the attention. Regular readers will know I love Essie polish, so no surprise I picked up some things yesterday. I really recommend trying out the Good to Go topcoat – perfect for late night nail polish appliers like myself ($10.77 on sale).

Australis – I know it’s almost cliché to mention this product, but it’s my duty to make sure it’s included for anyone who may not know about it! The AC On Tour kit is a powder contour kit that you can pick up for $10.17 at this sale. It’s not exactly Anastasia Beverly Hills, but it’s pretty bloody good for $10! Even if you don’t love it, you will enjoy playing around with it, and for makeup lovers like myself, it’s an exciting little purchase to take home, because nothing else in Priceline is quite like it. The stock at my local Priceline was crazy, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting your hands on it like people did last year.

Anyways, those are just some of my recommendations, I’d love to know what everyone else picked up, so please comment and share below! My love for makeup is like a disease, so let me know if you recommend anything I should check out today (I have until 11.59pm!).

I’ll admit early on that lip posts are a bit of a struggle for me. Lips are not my favourite facial feature, and I really struggle to work with them. With my ageing wisdom, I realise that very few people have perfectly shaped, luscious lips, and like any feature, there are always some tricks to tweak and enhance it. Lisa Eldridge has a brilliant tutorial on how to make thin lips look fuller which I highly recommend if you want some tips or ideas – I used her tips to even out my lip shape, and was really happy with the result.

Having said all that, I do still have some lip products I really enjoy using (e.g. Chubby Sticks) and recommend. Today’s product is the Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss lipstick. I’m trying to push myself to use some sort of lip product everyday, which helped me rediscover these lipsticks quite recently.

These are a great product, and are perfect for regular use. They have a great price point (RRP is $11.95), and for that amount of money, you get a really buttery, highly pigmented lipstick. I love the simple packaging and range of colours. It’s not a huge range of colours, – enough to give you a good choice, but not too many to confuse you. They have a nice smell (compared with the poison-like smell of some other supermarket brand makeup), and a decent level of moisture. I always apply something under my lipstick for moisture anyway, but this lipstick tops that up a bit as well.

The negatives for this lipstick is that it’s not particularly long-wearing – the longest I’ll get out of it is about 2-4 hours, depending on the level of drinking/eating/talking in which I will be participating. Since all my social events involve at least 2 out of these 3 activities, I always need to top it up. Rimmel stock a limited range of lip pencils (but enough to do the job), so I definitely recommend pairing the lipstick with a pencil if you need to enhance the wear time.

There is also a matte range, which is housed in a red container. I can’t comment on those lipsticks, as I’ve never used them. I love all things matte, but I generally steer away from it for my lips – I need all the reflection I can get!

Would I buy it again?Easily – the range of colours is limited, but it’s a solid performer.Who would I recommend it to?Anyone looking to expand their lipstick usage, or wanting a decent daily use lipstick.Is it value for money?That’s what makes it such a good product – yes!How can you get it?It’s impossible to ignore Rimmel – Priceline, Coles, Woolworths, Target, Big W & K Mart.